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vital defect that it does not get us anywhere with anything. It is really surprising that speakers should so often be guilty of a lack of unity which differs from the illustration just cited in degree rather than in kind.

The man who speaks in public could hardly make a more useful resolution than never to force an audience to "wonder what he is driving at." Not only should there be no straying from the subject of the discourse as a whole, but the discussion of each phase of the topic must constantly and obviously bear upon the specific point in question, avoiding confusion with other aspects of the subject. If one is talking on "Canadian Reciprocity," for example, every section of the development should lend itself to a summary statement which clearly contributes something to the main theme respecting Canadian reciprocity. Furthermore, the discussion of any particular phase, such as the effect upon the farmers of the United States, should be strictly confined to that point, without encroaching upon any other phase, such as the effect upon Canadian manufacturers. It is quite likely that this observance of unity will shorten many a speech by eliminating inconsequential padding, side-line excursions into allied fields, and confusing repetitions incident to the ill-advised use of the same material under two or more points. However, a reduction of the quantity of the average speech, accompanied by a corresponding improvement in quality, would be one, or rather two, of the most felicitous things that could happen to this much abused art.

The following excerpt from Professor G. Lowes Dickinson's discussion of the means by which a League of Peace might effect its purposes offers a typical example of unity. Particular attention is directed to the way in which the opening and closing sentences definitely introduce and terminate the idea of the passage. Note also how the substance of the entire matter can be summed up in a single statement. After the observation that the combined military force of the League might be employed against an offending member, Professor Dickinson says:

"Military force, however, is not the only weapon the powers might employ in such a case; economic pressure might sometimes be effective. Suppose, for example, that the United States entered into such a league, but that she did not choose, as she wisely might not choose, to become a great military or naval power. In the event of a crisis arising, such as we suppose, she could, nevertheless, exercise a very great pressure if she simply instituted a financial and commercial boycott against the offender. Imagine, for instance, that at this moment all the foreign trade of this country were cut off by a general boycott. We should

be harder hit than we can be by military force. We simply could not carry on the war. And though, no doubt, we are more vulnerable in this respect than other countries, yet such economic pressure, if it were really feared, would be a potent factor in determining the policy of any country. It is true that no nation could apply such a boycott without injuring itself. But then the object is to prevent that greatest of all injuries, material and moral, which we call war. We can then imagine the states included in our league agreeing that any offender who made war on a member of the League, contrary to the terms of the treaty, would immediately have to face either the economic boycott or the armed forces, or both, of the other members. And it is not unreasonable to think that in most cases that would secure the observance of the treaty."

B. COHERENCE

I. Coherent Thought

As to coherence, there are two considerations: thoughts must be presented in reasonable sequence; and the verbal expression must indicate their relationships. In discussing unity it was observed that the uncontrolled mind often passes rapidly through a disunified series of subjects. Similarly, with respect to coherence, the casual, glancing attitude of mind is apt to view any one subject in a chaotic manner. For example, what an inconsequential series of ideas are suggested to the average man when the subject, "Free-Trade," is mentioned! Probably he thinks of prices of food and clothing, foreign trade, England, the effect on farmers, trade-rivalry, domestic production, cost of living, encouragement of home industry, effect on manufacturers, the steel industry, the reduced price of Ingersoll watches in Europe, etc. All these thoughts are in varying degrees pertinent to the subject, but no definiteness of understanding, no conclusions regarding the merits or disadvantages of free-trade can be reached by developing the foregoing incoherent jumble. The desired effect requires an orderly progression of ideas, a growth or forward motion by which not only each phase prepares for or leads into the next, but also in which the thoughts constituting the elaboration of each subdivision shall develop in the same logical way.

II. Coherent Expression

With coherence of thought as a basis, the speaker is enabled to make his expression cohere, i. e., link together. Even in writing, one should use all possible means to make sentence relationships explicit. Much more necessary is this explicit indication of relationships in speech, where no opportunity for deliberation is afforded to those who are following the thought. Fortunately, the secret of coherent expression is easily grasped, providing always that the thoughts follow one another in logical sequence. To a great extent this secret inheres in the use of these connectives: (1) the use of a word employed in the preceding sentence, as is exemplified by the word "secret" in the beginning of this sentence; (2) a synonym or pronoun for a word used in the preceding sentence; (3) a word which sums up an idea expressed in the preceding sentence; (4) a conjunction which shows an addition or opposition to the thought in the preceding sentence, such as "and," "moreover," "but," "however," "nevertheless"; (5) a phrase, clause, or participial expression which connects a sentence with the preceding one by indicating a relationship of time, place, degree, manner, or circumstance, such as, "at this time," "on the contrary," "under such circumstances," "while this was happening," "what that involved," "when this was accomplished," "disregarding the opportunity," "disgusted with such an arrangement," etc.; (6) an adverb of time, place, degree, manner, or circumstance; (7) a transitional sentence, which aims to summarize broadly a preceding section and to introduce a new phase. Of course, it must not be understood that such connectives are serviceable for every sentence;

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